"Sealing the Void" - Version 3.5 (updated)

Danny Stewart · #1 November 20, 2006, 10:53 PM

After some lukewarm response to my previous update to "Sealing the Void," I decided to give it just one more try. This time, I've tried to take some of the criticism into account and make the piece sound better. Jez wasn't satisfied with the voice, so I worked with the attack and release times as well as the reverb to try and make it come across as a bit more natural. I hope I've succeeded with this. Also, I had some complaints about the drums not being powerful enough. I went back and checked the original and tried to work my drums to match. They're not ridiculously powerful, as they were in the CIN special (which was weird in a lot of ways and very different from the original), but they are a bit stronger and hopefully give more of a beat. The last improvement from the original is mainly for RV, who said that the bass sound wasn't good. Well, I went out and got a much nicer bass package (again recommended to me by Dominic Glynn, so you know you can't go wrong there) and redid the bass using that -- hopefully there will be no more issues there.

I also noticed a couple more small differences between mine and the original which have hopefully been corrected this time through. There is a subtle backing guitar in the background after the first time through, and I've added that in now. There is also one string note in there that just comes in out of nowhere, never heard before and never heard again. (Silly Murray...

) Anyway, that's in there now too.

There is also one more substantial change -- an addition of a new section to the end. In my original version, I stopped at a certain point because I thought the last section was too difficult to recapture in all its minute detail, so I just decided to keep the piece brief and not do that section. My second version was essentially a remade version of the first one, so that section didn't appear there either. For version 3, though, I decided that I should do it, so I've now added the last bit that you hear as Rose journeys to see the Doctor at Bad Wolf Bay. There are added guitars and many new string sections overlaid. I hope you all like the new version!

(Please note that aside from any unforeseen screwups on my part, this will likely be the final version.)

Click here to download "Sealing the Void" version 3!

Dalek104 · #2 November 21, 2006, 4:02 AM

An excellent improvement, Danny!

No criticisms from me!
Your work is truly wonderful.

Danny Stewart · #3 November 21, 2006, 9:57 AM

Thank you so much! You are too kind!

Dalek104 · #4 November 21, 2006, 10:34 AM

Thank you.

Danny Stewart · #5 November 21, 2006, 10:39 AM

Very glad you're enjoying it.

Dalek104 · #6 November 21, 2006, 10:43 AM

I'm glad you're creating these great pieces of music!
Out of interest, how long does it usually take you to create something like this?

Danny Stewart · #7 November 21, 2006, 10:46 AM

Thanks very much for your interest. I'd say it depends on the complexity of the piece. This one is a little more complicated than most. To originally create the first version, I remember it took me about two hours to transcribe it from the original. With each successive update, it took around the same amount of time. So this track, counting all three of its incarnations, took about six hours.

Dalek104 · #8 November 21, 2006, 10:47 AM

Wow! I'm my opinion that's quick.

Danny Stewart · #9 November 21, 2006, 1:01 PM

When I'm focused I can turn stuff out relatively quickly.

Jez · #10 November 21, 2006, 3:09 PM

The voice still sounds like it's being played on a keyboard but it's a huge improvement on last time.

The bass and percussion are perfect, as far as I'm concerned. Nice stuff.

Danny Stewart · #11 November 21, 2006, 3:27 PM

Thanks Jez. I will see if any more can be done about the voice but I doubt it. I'll let you know.

Jez · #12 November 21, 2006, 4:14 PM

I think it's the high pitches that let it down. You can hear the wave repeating itself which is a problem with pretty much all samples.

To be frank, if the majority of people don't notice it, I wouldn't worry about trying to fix it (especially as it would probably take a lot of work to do so). What with me listening through head phones and my interest in sound engineering, I find it more noticeable, lol.

Danny Stewart · #13 November 21, 2006, 4:21 PM

Well obviously it's a concern for me too. I just don't know what can be done about it. It's the only library I have, and it's a good library...

MI7 · #14 November 22, 2006, 2:21 PM

Great work as ever Danny! I didn't even notice the guitar in the second "verse" until I heard the version from the DVD yesterday, nice job! My one suggestion would be to make it more prominent as it is quite noticeable in the actual track and to make it more "guitar sounding" (dunno if that's possible with your soundset or not, and since this is the final version and my suggestion is just a minor one, don't worry about it).

Still, fantastic work, the slightly "synth" sound of the voice doesn't really bother me at all!

Danny Stewart · #15 November 22, 2006, 2:51 PM

Your wish is my command, sir! I've tweaked the guitar's sound just a bit, but I think what really helps is that I've brought it up in volume and added heavier reverb. I think this covers what you're talking about and I also think it sounds a lot better now! You may redownload the new version from the same link in the first post.

MI7 · #16 November 22, 2006, 2:52 PM

Originally Posted by Danny Stewart

Your wish is my command, sir! I've tweaked the guitar's sound just a bit, but I think what really helps is that I've brought it up in volume and added heavier reverb. I think this covers what you're talking about and I also think it sounds a lot better now! You may redownload the new version from the same link in the first post.

Perfect, that sounds even better now Danny! Glad the suggestion helped

.

Danny Stewart · #17 November 22, 2006, 2:57 PM

Thanks for making the suggestion in the first place.

Danny Stewart · #18 November 23, 2006, 3:05 PM

I have updated this piece one more time. Allow me to present version 3.5, made much clearer thanks to MI7's efforts at extracting the original piece from the episode. I've drastically improved the beginning of the last part, the very end of the whole piece, and the backing string arrangement just before the end.

Click here to download Sealing the Void version 3.5!

Ben Dawson · #19 November 23, 2006, 3:27 PM

I must say that this is the best version you've ever done, it's perfect in everyway. It's a LOT more prominent than your original, the music is a lot more powerful now which equals to a very enjoyable experience. You should be very proud of this one, it has all the feeling and emotion as the original seen on Doomsday. This is very moving, 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 out of 10. Fantastic work.

Danny Stewart · #20 November 23, 2006, 3:44 PM

Originally Posted by Ben Dawson

100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 out of 10.

WOW!

I've never gotten that high of a rating on anything before!

Anyway, glad you enjoyed the new version.